D265 - WGU - Critical Thinking - Reason and Evidence

D265 - WGU - CRITICAL THINKING -
REASON AND EVIDENCE



PROPOSITIONSo-oans✔Areostatementsothatocanobeotrueoorofalse

NON-PROPOSITONSo-
oans✔Areosentencesothatoareonotostatementsoaboutomattersoofofactoorofiction.oTheyodoo
notomakeoaoclaimothatocanobeotrueoorofalse.

SIMPLEoPROPOSITIONSo-
oans✔Haveonoointernalologicostructure,omeaningowhetherotheyoareotrueoorofalseodoeson
otodependoonowhetheroaopartoofothemoisotrueoorofalse.oTheyoareosimplyotrueoorofalseoon
otheiroown.o(Example:oHarryoPotterowearsoglasses.oTheoskyoisoblue.)


COMPLEXoPROPOSITIONSo-
oans✔Haveointernalologicostructure,omeaningotheyoareocomposedoofosimpleoproposition
s.oWhetherotheyoareotrueoorofalseodependsoonowhetherotheiropartsoareotrueoorofalse.o(E
xample:oTheoskyoisoblue,obutoitodoesonotolookoblueotoomeorightonow.oTheocatoateotheofo
od,obutoheodidonotolikeoit.oTheoGDPoofoCanadaoisoeithero$3otrillionooro$12otrillion.)

WordsousedotooidentifyoIndependentoPropositionso-
oans✔AND,oOR,oEITHER,oBUT,oIF,oTHEN.


CONCLUSIONoINDICATORSo-
oans✔THEREFORE,oSO,oIToFOLLOWSoTHAT,oHENCE,oTHUS,oENTAILSoTHAT,oWEo
MAYoCONCLUDEoTHAT,oIMPLIESoTHAT,oWHEREFORE,oANDoASoAoRESULT.

PREMISEoINDICATORSo-
oans✔BECAUSE,oFOR,oGIVENoTHAT,oAS,oSINCE,oASoINDICATEDoBY.


DEDUCTIVEoARGUMENTSo-
oans✔Argumentsowhereotheopremisesoguaranteeooronecessitateotheoconclusion.
-mathematicaloarguments,ologicaloarguments,oargumentsofromodefinition.

INDUCTIONoARGUMENTSo-
oans✔Argumentsowhereotheopremisesomakeotheoconclusionoprobable.
-analogies,oauthority,ocausaloinferences,oextrapolations,oetc.

, INFERENCEoTOoTHEoBESToEXPLANATIONoORoABDUCTIONo-
oans✔Argumentsowhereotheobestoavailableoexplanationoisochosenoasotheocorrectoexpla
nation.

FORMALoFALLACYo-oans✔Concernsotheostructureoofoanoargument

INFORMALoFALLACYo-oans✔Concernsotheoinformationalocontentoofoanoargument

AoFORMALoFALLACYoISoAoTYPEoOFo-oans✔BadoArgumentoStructure

Whichopieceoofoinformationowouldobeotheomostohelpfulotooknowoinoassessingotheocredib
ilityoofoaonewsostory?o-
oans✔Whetherotheonameoofotheoauthoroandotheopublicationoareoidentified


Whichoquestionsoareomostoappropriateoforoevaluatingotheocredibilityoofoanoinformationos
ource?o-oans✔Whoofundedoit?o&oDoesoitotryotoogetoyouotoodistrustootherosources?

Whileoresearchingoaotopicoonotheointernet,oaostudentoencountersotwoodifferentowebsites
,ooneoofothatolooksomoreoofficialothanotheootheroandoincludesotables,ocharts,oandostatisti
cs,owhileotheootherodoesonot.
Whatoisotheolineooforeasoningothisostudentoshouldoemployotoodetermineowhichositeoisom
oreocredible?o-
oans✔Itoisonotofeasibleotoodetermineowhichositeoisomoreocredibleofromotheoinformationop
rovided.

Inowhichowayoshouldoanoinformationosourceobeoapproachedoifoitoisostatingothatoitoisotheo
onlyosourceooforealoinformationoandothatootherosourcesocannotobeotrusted?o-
oans✔Skeptically,obecauseotheosourceomayolackocredibility.


PRINCIPLEoOFoCHARITYo-
oans✔Theoprincipleoofocharityosuggestsoweoshouldotryotoounderstandoideasobeforeocritic
izingothem.

Whichoofotheofollowingoareoreasonsoforoapplyingotheoprincipleoofocharity?o-
oans✔Itoisomorallyorightotoogiveoothersotheobenefitoofotheodoubt.
Itoallowsoforoaoclearerounderstandingoofotheoissue.

Smithoisocommittedotootheobeliefothatotechnologicaloadvancementoisoalwaysobeneficialo
andothusoneverodetrimentalotoohumanolife.oSmithoreadsoaocarefullyowrittenoandosufficien
tlyoarguedoessayoinowhichotheoauthorocontendsothatotheohumanoadoptionoofoanyonewote
chnologyoinvolvesobothoadvantagesoandodisadvantagesotooitsoadopters.oSinceoSmithois
oaoloyalotechnophile,oSmithoacceptsotheoauthor'soclaimsoaboutotheoadvantagesoofotechn
ologyobutorejectsotheoauthor'soclaimsoaboutotheodisadvantagesoofotechnology.
WhichocognitiveobiasoisoSmithodemonstrating?o-oans✔ConfirmationoBias